Golden Road
A trip along the Golden Road (originally a carpet, later dots, for a brief time also used a velvet rope and for another brief time, nothing) where the contestant tries to win three prizes, each of which is more expensive than the previous. The game is noteworthy for offering some of the most expensive prizes on the show. Gameplay *The game begins with a grocery item priced under $1, whose price is shown to the contestant. The price of a three-digit prize is then revealed, with the hundreds digit missing. The contestant must choose one of the two digits in the price of the grocery item as the missing digit. *If they are correct, the game continues with a four-digit prize, whose missing hundreds digit is one of the digits in the price of the three-digit prize. If they are correct, they move on to select the missing hundreds digit in the price of a five-digit (or occasionally six-digit) prize from the digits in the price of the four-digit prize. An incorrect guess at any point ends the game; however, the contestant keeps any prizes won up to that point. *Since the first two (or three for six-digit prizes) digits of the final prize is price will be shown, the prize is usually billed as "worth more than many thousand dollars" at the start of the game. *The numbers in the first two prizes generally do not repeat, but it is rumored that it did happen at one point. Early History *Golden Road debuted on August 19, 1975 (#1552D) and all three prizes were won for the first time on November 3, 1975 (#1661D). *Golden Road's original claim to fame was that it always offered a prize worth more than $10,000, while other games typically offered cars in the $4,000 range (CBS had a game show earnings cap of $25,000 at the time). The prize value has since increased steadily, as CBS increased (and later eliminated) the earnings cap to the point where they are usually worth more (sometimes much more) than $60,000 on current playings. *On November 3, 1975 (#1661D), the very first permanent hour long show, Golden Road got its very first win and during that time, the first digit of the three-digit prize was supposed to be concealed but the sleeve (using buttons to reveal at that time) was prematurely revealed and Bob offered the player the very first prize anyway. However, the second number from the four-digit prize and the third number from the five-digit prize had their numbers concealed. *Originally, the price podiums that conceal missing digits were concealed by plastic sleeves that the host would reveal at the pull of a lever or later, the push of a button. At times, these would cause the digit to be revealed prematurely, or when pulling the lever/pushing the button, would cause the sleeve to get stuck. On November 11, 1977 (#2555D), Golden Road had three changes-- the original carpet road was replaced with gold circles, the velvet rope was introduced (removed on September 19, 1979, #3393D) and the push buttons got removed and were replaced with pull-tabs. *On January 7, 1987 (#6323D), Golden Road's sign had been redone to have less glitter and give the letters a more professional appearance. Later History *On October 6, 1999 (#1203K), the Golden Road set changed so that the colors of the first two price holders are swapped, changing the sequence from blue-green-red to green-blue-red. The title's font style changed to Times New Roman, similar to that of Lucky $even. *On January 15, 2001 (#1661K), the slimmer, colored price holders debuted. *Except for its premiere and the December 20, 2016 (#7732K) episodes, when it was played third and second, respectively, Golden Road is always played as the first pricing game. From May 17, 1989 (#7283D, aired out of order on May 18) until his retirement in 2007, then-host Bob Barker almost always entered from the back of the audience at the beginning of the show when Golden Road (and other games that block door #2) was played, as the game takes up the entire stage and would have been given away with a Door #2 entrance. **One notable exception happened on May 16, 2007 (#022SP), which marked Bob Barker's final $1,000,000 Spectacular when he entered the stage through Door #2; to keep his entrance from giving away the game, the dots that make up the "road" were not used, a change that was subsequently made on the daytime show with Drew Carey taking over at the start of Season 36, although it was undone after only the 2 times it was played. The dots are now set up during the first One Bid. However, Carey continues to enter through Door #2 and hasn't entered from the audience for this game or any other. One notable exception to this was on June 23, 2008 (#4391K), when he made the first of his three audience entrances (the other two were on February 17, 2015 (#7012K), during "#U Decide Week," in which the show's Twitter followers voted on whether Drew should make his entrance through the audience or from behind the Turntable; and September 23, 2015, in which it kept with the '90s theme). *On 1994's syndicated The New Price Is Right, Golden Road began with a two-digit prize or a fishbowl of cash. *On Earth Day on April 22, 2010 (#5134K) and April 22, 2015 (#7103K), in keeping with the Earth Day theme, Golden Road was renamed Green Road, while on October 29, 2010 (#5285K), in keeping with The Wizard of Oz theme, it was renamed again, this time to Golden Brick Road. *On September 26, 2013 (#6424K, aired out of order on October 17), during Big Money Week, Golden Road was played for a $189,565 Bentley Continental GT. During that playing, the contestant only had the first and second prizes guessed correctly. That segment was not aired on the East coast due to a CBS News Special Report, and was never rebroadcast possibly due to having no pricing games won. *On November 20, 2013 (#6503K), during Dream Car Week, it was played for a 2014 Mercedes-Benz SL550 convertible worth over $114,000. During that playing, the contestant wiped out on the first prize. *On September 26, 2014 (#6815K), the digit "1" seen in the price tags was changed to a stick-like version without a serif (like a lower case "L"). The last playing with the serif version "1" was on May 16, 2014 (#6745K, aired out-of-order on June 13). *Prior to December 22, 2014 (#6931K, aired out-of-order on December 23), in which it was played for a $73,900 2015 Mercedes-Benz GL450 4Matic, the last time Golden Road received an official daytime win was February 20, 2007 (#3892K), when Bob was still hosting. On the day in question, a contestant named Giselle Moody not only won the car, but became the first daytime contestant since Drew became host to completely win Golden Road; though a primetime playing from March 7, 2008 (#026SP, aired out-of-order on April 4) with Drew hosting was won in which the Viper was worth $87,910. *On February 16, 2016 (#7412K, aired out-of-order on February 19), during Dream Car Week, Golden Road was played for a $139,142 Mercedes-Benz S550 4MATIC Coupe and was won by a contestant named Adrain Kendrick. *On December 19, 2017 (#8132K) during Christmas week, Golden Road was played for a $62,745 Audi A5 Cabriolet Premium Plus and was won by a contestant named Austin Collins (girl's name). It was the cheapest car offered in that game since Drew took over as host. Ironically, 3 Strikes had a more expensive car offered three days later. *There were three episodes where a contestant won the showcase despite a wipeout of this pricing game: December 6, 1993 (#9001D), April 16, 2003 (#2503K) and May 4, 2017 (#7924K). Notes *This game can't just have any three prizes. The first prize that is less than $1,000 has to share one of the two correct numbers from the starting item. The second prize that is less than $10,000 has to share one of the three numbers from the first prize. The third and final prize at the end of the golden road journey has to share one of the four numbers from the second prize. *The first two prizes cannot have any repeating numbers. *The third prize can have some repeating as it will be the last prize to be played for. Trivia *The most number of times this game was played in any season was 18. *Starting with season 28 and onward, the game was played less than 10 times. Pictures Bob Barker Era Golden Road 1.jpg|Here's the old tacky start position of Golden Road from the first permanent hour long show on November 3, 1975 (#1661D) and featured on Disc 3 of the DVD set. What ugly lettering! Golden Road.JPG|Here's the first font for the numbers. Notice the lever on the price podium that Bob has to turn to reveal the correct digit. The levers would quickly be replaced with buttons later on in the game's run. Golden Road 2.jpg|Back then they offered cars worth more than $10,000 like this one, from that first permanent hour long show. Notice the carpet that was originally the Golden Road. Golden Road 3.jpg|This was what the price was, and the contestant won it (the car, that is). This time, notice the button. 83gr_error.jpg|What's going on here? (The buttons were done away with at this point) Golden Road 4.jpg|It's the same tacky start prop but with a better font. This is from the show's 17th season premiere on September 12, 1988 (#6941D). Golden Road 5.jpg|By that point, cars and other big prizes were worth more than $20,000. Notice the dots for the Golden Road. Here is the car offered that day, but the contestant did not make it because... Golden Road 6.jpg|...he blew it on the 2nd prize with this price. Grmotorhome1.jpg|But here's better news, a motorhome was offered that day on November 28, 1994 (#9371D) and that was won. NOTE: In the case of big prizes size-wise, the rainbow was not available since there was no room to see it. Grmotorhome2.jpg|This was the price of the motorhome. golden7.jpg|Bob is making his famous entrance from the back so the 1st game must be... golden8.jpg|...Golden Road!!! Here it is from March 23, 1999 (#1062K). golden10.jpg|And it ends with this luxurious sports car worth over $70,000! Unfortunately, this contestant didn't make it there as she blew it on the second prize. Golden Road 7.jpg|Now that is much better; the rainbow start prop with the ultra better looking arrow logo which is still used today. Here is a playing from March 28, 2005 (#3221K). Golden Road 8.jpg|The big prize offered that day was a trailer. Golden Road 9.jpg|This was the price of the trailer; the trailer was won by the contestant that day. Drew Carey Era Golden Road (Drew) 1.jpg|Here is a playing of Golden Road from The Price is Right $1,000,000 Spectacular. Golden Road (Drew) 2.jpg|This was the car offered that night-- a Viper! Golden Road (Drew) 3.jpg|This is its price-- $87,910-- and the car was won. Golden Road (Drew) 4.jpg|On Earth Day 2010, instead of Golden Road, they called it Green Road. Golden Road (Drew) 5.jpg|This was the most expensive prize offered at that time-- a Tesla Roadster! Golden Road (Drew) 6.jpg|This was the price of it-- $112,845. Sadly, the contestant did not win it. Greenroad2015-1.png|Five years later, it was renamed Green Road again. Greenroad2015-2.png|This is the car that was offered on the playing. Greenroad2015-3.png|Unfortunately, the Porsche Panamera Hybrid was not won. goldenbrickroad1.jpg|On the 2010 Halloween Special, Golden Road was renamed as 'Golden Brick Road' which was a reference to The Wizard of Oz goldenbrickroad4.jpg|The 'Golden Brick Road' path goldenbrickroad2.jpg|The car offered on that day, but that contestant didn't get to play for it, because... goldenbrickroad3.jpg|...she had guessed the second prize wrong. Christmas 2014 Golden Road Win! 1.jpg|It's Christmas 2014 and it's time to walk the Golden Road again. Christmas 2014 Golden Road Win! 2.jpg|This is the car the contestant is going for. NOTE: By this point, the rainbow is now split into five monitors and dig the fireworks effect from those two pots. Christmas 2014 Golden Road Win! 3.jpg|This contestant is so excited that she gave the car a kiss for good luck. Christmas 2014 Golden Road Win! 4.jpg|Of these four numbers from the price of the previous prize, which of these is third number in the price of the Merecedes-Benz? The contestant said "9". Is it nine? Christmas 2014 Golden Road Win! 5.jpg|Wait for it, wait for it... Christmas 2014 Golden Road Win! 6.jpg|YES! After seven years without a winner, the losing streak is FINALLY over!!! YouTube Videos Christine O'Gee's Golden Road win (November 11, 1977, #2555D) Exciting Golden Road Win from 1990 (January 4, 1990, #7484D) Golden Road win (May 31, 1993, #8851D) Golden Road win (October 6, 1999, #1203K) Golden Road win from 2001 (January 15, 2001, #1665K) Great Golden Road Win (April 15, 2002, #2131K) Golden Road win from 2003 (November 10, 2003, #2671K) Golden Road win for a Corvette! (December 9, 2003, #2712K) Primetime Golden Road winner (April 16, 2005, (#020SP, aired out of order on April 9) Last Golden Road win under Bob Barker's tenure (February 20, 2007, #3892K) Another Primetime Golden Road winner (March 7, 2008, #026SP, aired out of order on April 4) Playing under the name 'Green Road' (April 22, 2010, #5132K) Golden Brick Road playing (October 29, 2010, #5285K) Golden Road playing from Dream Car Week (November 20, 2013, #6503K) The First ever Daytime Golden Road Winner under Drew Carey's tenure (December 22, 2014, #6931K, aired out-of-order on December 23) Playing under the name 'Green Road II' (April 22, 2015, #7103K) Dismal Playing from 2015 (December 23, 2015, #7333K) Outstanding Golden Road Win during Dream Car Week (February 16, 2016, #7412K, aired out-of-order on February 19, 2016) Disastrous Playing from Season 46 (November 16, 2017, #8094K) Golden Road Win during Christmas 2017 (December 19, 2017, #8132K) Category:Pricing Games Category:Active Games Category:3-Prize Games Category:Grocery Product Games Category:Car Games Category:1970s Pricing Games Category:Can't Make a Mistake Category:Must be Correct to Continue Category:You Don't Have to Win it All Category:A Choice of 2 Category:A Choice of 3 Category:A Choice of 4 Category:Center Stage Pricing Games Category:Pricing Games by The Big Doors Category:Multiple Choice Games Category:Primetime Pricing Games Category:Predict the Correct Price Category:Predict the Correct Numbers Category:Long Play Category:Increasing Difficulty Category:Hard Winning Pricing Games Category:"G" Pricing Games Category:2-Word Pricing Games Category:August Pricing Games Category:Dream Car Week Pricing Games